Marathon Training - Week 1

So, I am turning 33 in December.  I have never been big into birthday celebrations for myself . . .

I wanted this year to be different.  I wanted to do something "big" for a change.  My birthday, hubs birthday, and our wedding anniversary all fall in December, and of course there is Christmas too, so it makes it hard to do big things.  It's time to do something I have been thinking about for a long time, but makes me terrified.

So along with my running bud Jess, her hubs, and my hubs, we signed up for the Palm Beaches Marathon during its blitz.

Holy crap.  Twenty six point freaking two miles.  I guess it fulfills this mantra.

Its been awhile since I've done something that terrifies me.  26.2 miles TERRIFIES me.  Its a crazy thing that a lot of people will never do.  Its certainly something I never thought I would do, back in those days not so long ago when I would look at people running, from my car, while eating a fast food burger and thinking to myself "Wow, those people are crazy."

I have sort of been in marathon denile these past few months.  I have just tried not to think about it, because thinking about it is pretty overwhelming.  But since we're now less than six months away, there was no more putting it off.  So last week, Jess and I chose a plan and put our heads together and said  "The time is now."

And low and behold, Week 1 of marathon training is over.  Keep in mind, we're knee deep in triathlon season, which goes until November here in SoFL.  So that impacted the training plan I chose. Went with Galloway, because I think the mileage is realistic for me and because it will give me time to swim, bike and lift, all things I am not willing to give up during marathon training.

So here's what week one looked like:
M - 30 min spin/Body Pump
Tu - 800m swim/4 mi run
W - 50 min spin/3 mi run (brick!)
Th - 4 mi run/wog (cause I died at the end)
F - Body pump
Sa - Rest
Su- 7.5 miles at 3/1 intervals.  It was hot and humid but I was SHOCKED how good I felt at the end.  6 was originally on the schedule, but we decided to go for 7.5 because WHY NOT.  (And also because I realized Escape to Miami in September falls on the same day as my first 20 miler according to the plan. File that under things that won't quite work out.

The only bad thing about the week was the training increase sort of made me wig out on my eating.  I need to plan more carefully this week.  I don't care if I don't lose a pound over the next few months, but I DO want to lean out.  So I need to watch what I'm putting into my face.  Fun times.

Rock on peeps, and happy Monday.

When Life Bogs You Down

Hello Readers!!
Sorry that I have been MIA.  I don't even know how blogging fell by the wayside.  Or maybe I do.  Life happens, and sometimes, it just gets overwhelming and the things that aren't critical to existence fall away.  The past few months have been very much about finding our homeschool groove in this house.  Its been a challenge.   I haven't been running, I gained some weight . . . I struggled with my emotions and old habits and all of that fun stuff.

No matter where you are in your journey in life, or in fitness, or WHATEVER, its important to recognize that things happen.  Life gets you down. You make crappy choices, bad things happen.  You fall.  But then you get back up and you move on.

June has very much been the getting back up and moving on for me.  Its not like anything catastrophic has occurred in our lives, it was just that life got away from us.

I was reminded that people actually DO read this page, and take things away from it, by a woman I met at my last race.  She was a friend of an awesome chick I met last year, and had been reading for awhile. She had noticed the lack of posts.   I realized I need to make more of an effort to write here again.   I have fallen SO FAR behind, its not even funny.  Mental and physical struggles aside, I still haven't blogged about the last 2 legs of Ragnar.  I haven't written about the two half marathons or three triathlons I have done since then.

Oh, and I haven't written about the awesome night hubs and I went out to go dancing that resulted in my toe getting sliced open and sidelining me for an entire month. THAT was fun.   Because of that injury, I did my first Relay at Miami Man Speedway edition.  I'm lucky to have awesome running friends who are willing to run 6.6 miles in the heat of the day at the drop of a hat.

In the four months since I've written last, my son has turned 8 and my daughter has graduated from preschool.  We had a crazy fun soccer season in there too.

  

There have been a lot of beautiful sunrises . . .

 Miami Beach 13.1 - From the causeway

 and LOTS of epic craziness . . .

 like running in the rain

 and humiliating the dog

 and finding cool things on the beach

while burying ourselves in the sand. 

 June has been getting back to basics . . .

 Eating clean

 Positive self talk (Thanks Grandma!)

And COMPRESSION.

It was putting on my compression today, after a 50 minute spin/3 mile run brick, that inspired me to write today.  Because as I was struggling into my Aspaeris shorts I was reminded that only 18 months ago, I was sitting in my car with Amanda/TooTall feeling exhausted after my 2nd Ragnar leg/my first Ragnar night run, and feeling like there was no way I could MOVE yet alone keep going.  We were two runners down, my stomach wasn't behaving and I felt SO TIRED.  But she talked me into struggling into the shorts, and even though I felt like dying, we finished.  Life is like that.  You think you can't go on, but you do.  You preservere.  You get better, you get stronger, you get faster.  It may never get easier, but you get better.  You keep going.  

My favorite thing about running/endurance events is that they are metaphors for life.  Yes, its hard.  Yes, you want to give up.  You struggle, you fall, you want to quit.  But you don't.  You can't.  You have to keep going.  You come out the other side.

Oh, and sorry if you see me around town in my compression get-up.  Since training is back in full swing, you gotta do what you gotta do.